Vonn Crashes In Super-G Event, Suffers Broken Shin, Torn Ligaments

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SCHLADMING, Austria (AP/CBS4) – Vail’s Lindsey Vonn crashed during the super-G event Tuesday at the world championships in Austria and will be out for the rest of the ski season with a serious leg injury.

US ski team officials said Vonn suffered a torn ACL and MCL in her right knee and a lateral tibial plateau (shin) fracture in the crash.

The Coloradan lost balance on her right leg while landing after a jump. Her ski came off immediately, and Vonn slid off course and hit a gate before coming to a standstill. Vonn received medical treatment on the slope for 12 minutes before was taken by helicopter to a hospital nearby after the crash.

“Vonn had posted the fastest first interval and was having a strong run when she went down. She was immediately attended to by race medical officials and transported by helicopter, as is standard protocol, to a nearby hospital,” read a statement on the U.S. Ski Team website.

CBS4 Medical Editor Dr. Dave Hnida said it’s likely Vonn won’t be able to ski for at least seven or eight months, but a year from now she should be completely healed.

“Valgus stress, we call it, where her knee came into a kind of knock-kneed alignment suddenly. And that probably tore her MCL, the center ligament, and subsequently tore her ACL,” Cunningham said. “And then the femur impacts the tibia and kind of has a little impact crush injury in the back of the tibia. So the fracture component is the smaller component of the overall injury.”

Cunningham said Vonn will have surgery and likely be out of the hospital immediately. He said range of motion and aggressive therapy begins right away.

Lindsey Vonn is transported by a helicopter after a fall during the women’s Super-G event of the 2013 Ski World Championships in Schladming, Austria, on Feb. 5, 2013. (credit: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

Lindsey Vonn is transported by a helicopter after a fall during the women’s Super-G event of the 2013 Ski World Championships in Schladming, Austria, on Feb. 5, 2013. (credit: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)